A Lecture Course given by Jeff Shapiro (MIT, Fall 2004)

Light is made up of particles: photons, and Quantum Optics is the quantum mechanical study of these photons and how they interect with matter. Important phenomena in the field, which will be discussed throughout this course, include squeezed light, entanglement, and teleportation. Of particular interest are the applications of the theory to create novel communication systems, which will also be discussed.

Prerequisites: Basic probability theory (see first problem set for some revision questions), Linear systems - Laplace Transforms, Fourier Transforms, Convolution Theorem, Linear algebra - Eigenvalues and eigenvectors

Further Info: General Topics and Remarks

Supplementary Reading: RL1, RL2, RL3,
Notes on Probability, Notes on Random Processes

Problem Sets:

There are 8 problem sets which accompany this lecture series.

Course Outline

Introduction: Overview of some interesting phenomena in Quantum Optics
Lecture 1: Video, Slides
Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics: Quantum Systems, State Evolution, Quantum Measurements and HUP
Lecture 2: Video, Slides
Lecture 3: Video, Slides
Quantum Harmonic Oscillator: Annihilation and Creation Operators, Energy Eigenstates, Coherent States, MUP States, other measurement States
Lecture 4: Video, Slides
Lecture 5: Video, Slides
Lecture 6: Video, Slides
Lecture 7: Video, Slides
Lecture 8: Video, Slides
Single Mode Photodetection: Direct, Homodyne and Hetrodyne detection, Signatures of squeezed states
Lecture 8: Video, Slides
Lecture 9: Video, Slides
Lecture 10: Video, Slides
Lecture 11: Video, Slides
Linear Systems: Single, Two and Four mode systems, Entanglement and Teleportation
Lecture 11: Video, Slides
Lecture 12: Video, Slides
Lecture 13: Video, Slides
Teleportation: Polarisation entanglement and qubit teleportation, Quadrature entanglement and Continuous Variables Teleportation (CVT), Fidelity of CVTs
Lecture 14: Video, Slides
Lecture 15: Video, Slides
Quantum Cryptography: One-time pads, Bennett-Brassard and Ekert protocols
Lecture 16: Video, Slides
Quantisation of EM Field
Lecture 17: Video, Slides
Continuous Time Photodetection: Semiclassical and Quantum theory, Coherent detection
Lecture 18: Video, Slides
Lecture 19: Video, Slides
Lecture 20: Video, Slides
Non-linear Optics of Chi_squared Interactions: Maxwell's equations for onlinear polarisation, Paramteric downconversion, classical and quantum solutions
Lecture 20: Video, Slides
Lecture 21: Video, Slides
Quantum Signatures from Parametric Interactions
Lecture 22: Video, Slides
More Quantum Optical Applications: Binary optical communication. and phase sensing interferometry with squeezed states, super-dense coding with entangled states
Lecture 23: Video, Slides